Preseason MVP: The Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, Keaston Willis, returns after leading UIW with 13.3 points per game and providing the team’s best 3-point shooting threat (34.9 percent). 

The Ceiling: UIW returns three freshman starters from last season, and all three need to take significant steps to offset the loss of five players to transfer. The Cardinals ranked last in the SLC in adjusted efficiency, suggesting the team was lucky to win six league games. Barring any surprising newcomers, matching that total is perhaps the best-case scenario.

The Floor: The Cardinals have ranked near the bottom of Division I men’s basketball for three straight seasons, and another difficult year is potentially in play too. This group returns some experience but might not have the talent to change the immediate course.

Game of the Year: Houston Baptist. UIW will want more than last year’s series split against the team that finished at the bottom of the league standings.

Projected Starting Five:

Keaston Willis
G | 6-3 | So. | Sulpher Springs

Drew Lutz
G | 6-1 | So. | Granger, Ind.

Des Balentine
G | 6-0 | R-Sr. | Kokomo, Ind.

Bryce Davis
F | 6-7 | Jr. | Glendale, Ariz.

Marcus Larsson
F | 6-11 | So. | Oslo, Norway

Carson Cunningham
Head Coach

 

Impact-First Year Player: Bradley Akhile

 

Season Preview

Through the first two games of January, Incarnate Word had endured 27 straight losses against Division I teams, a streak dating back more than a full calendar year.

But as a young roster matured, UIW found a spark on Jan. 11, beating New Orleans to snap the skid. Eighteen days later, the Cardinals started a run of five wins in seven games — all against Southland opponents.

UIW eventually crashed down to earth, dropping the final five games of the season. The Cardinals finished in the bottom 10 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin for the third year in a row, but coach Carson Cunningham found reason for optimism.

Though transfers continue to be an issue for the UIW, Cunningham believes a team with four returning starters can make a run at matching last year’s six Southland wins, even with an abbreviated schedule.

“The main thing for us is we’re returning a lot of experience, and now we’re able to hopefully utilize that to build on what we were able to do last year,” Cunningham said. “So, it’s exciting.”

Central to UIW’s efforts will be Keaston Willis, who won Southland Freshman of the Year last season after scoring a team-leading 13.3 points per game on 34.9 percent 3-point shooting.

Cunningham said Willis owns a “fantastic” work ethic, entering his sophomore season stronger and more confident.

“Being recognized as Southland Freshman of the Year has really actually propelled him to work even harder and think even bigger,” Cunningham said. 

The Cardinals will consider using a lineup of three point guards with Willis, sophomore Drew Lutz and senior Des Balentine.

Lutz led the team with 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game last year while ranking as UIW's second-leading scorer with 11.6 points. Cunningham expects Lutz to improve the 1.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio he posted as a freshman.

Balentine hit his peak as he recovered from injury late in the year, averaging 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists through his final 12 games. Cunningham hails the senior captain as a steadying voice in the locker room.

“We feel like all of those guys can either set the table, initiate the offense, or play more of a scoring role,” Cunningham said. “And we feel that’s going to give us some versatility. Hopefully, it plays out that way.”

Sophomore Marcus Larsson, a 6-foot-11 forward who ranked second on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game last year, returns a stronger player, more capable of anchoring the paint while avoiding the foul trouble that plagued him a season ago.

His ability to control the interior will be especially critical, as 2019-20 leading rebounder Vincent Miszkiewicz was one of five players to transfer out of the program during the offseason.  The Cardinals are also losing their third-leading scorer in guard Dwight Murray, as well as guard Morgan Taylor, who missed last season due to injury but ranked second on the team in scoring in 2018-19.

The departures continue a trend for UIW, which also lost five players to transfer entering the 2019-20 season, including the 2018-19 team’s leading scorer and rebounder in Christian Peevy.

“It’s not as uncommon now as it used to be, and so you really just roll with the times,” Cunningham said. “I don’t think in Division I basketball transfers are a surprise to coaches anymore.”